Combat
Action Mode During combat and other intense, high-stakes situations, the game enters Action Mode. In Action Mode, characters take turns moving, attacking, or using abilities or skills. The turn order is determined by rolling Cunning, with the highest roll moving first, the second highest moving second, and so on. Each full rotation of the turn order is called a '''round'''. During each character's turn, they have 3 '''Action Points''' or '''AP''' to spend. A character may use AP to perform a variety of actions, most commonly moving and attacking. Moving a character's '''Speed''' in feet costs 1 AP, most attacks and abilities cost 2 AP, and using most skills costs 3 AP. During each round, characters also have a number of '''Opportunity Actions''' or '''OA''' equal to their Cunning score, which they can use during another character's turn. Usually this means performing an''' '''opportunity attack against an enemy who moves while within melee threat range or attacks with a ranged weapon while adjacent to you. Hit Points & Critical Wounds Earth 2308 is an extremely lethal game, both for the bad guys and for the protagonists. In most cases, the enemies that players face are built similarly to the characters they play as, using the same character creation rules; no effort has been made to give players an inherent edge over NPCs. In order to survive combat, players are encouraged to fight smart, make friends, and know when to retreat. Escaping from a dangerous situation at the right moment can be the difference between life and death. In 2308 every character has 6 '''hit zones''', each with its own '''hit points''' that do not scale with any attribute. All humans generally have the same amount of hit points for each hit zone. These hit zones include the torso, the right and left arms, the head, and the right and left legs. The torso has 30 hit points, the legs have 24 hit points, the arms have 18 hit points, and the head has 12 hit points. These represent the structural integrity of a character's body, and all body parts except the head can reach 0 HP without the character dying. In most situations, a character will die due to suffering '''Critical Wounds'''. '''Critical Attacks''' are dealt when an attacker rolls the same number twice on their attack roll. Whenever a Critical Attack is dealt and penetrates armor, the character who gets hit suffers a Critical Wound. A Critical Wound represents a severe injury that could be life-threatening if left untreated, such as a fractured bone, a torn artery, an injured organ, internal bleeding or a brain contusion. Many weapons also inflict additional effects with Critical Attacks. Each time a Critical Wound is sustained, the character must roll their Vigor attribute against their number of Critical Wounds or go into '''Critical Condition'''. If they are already in Critical Condition and fail this roll, then the character dies. Additionally, any damage sustained to the torso past 0 HP is converted into Critical Wounds and any character who suffers more than 20 Critical Wounds automatically dies. When a character is in Critical Condition, they are immobile and dying. They remain this way for a number rounds equal to their Vigor score, after which they must roll Vigor against their current number of critical wounds. If they fail that roll, they die; if they succeed, they remain in Critical Condition and will have to roll again after the same number of rounds. In most cases, the only way to escape from Critical Condition is to be rescued by an ally. When a character stabilizes someone who is in Critical Condition, they roll their Medicine skill against the target's current number of Critical Wounds. If they succeed, the stabilized character recovers from Critical Condition. Critical Wounds can also be dealt by depleting a body part's Hit Points. If a character's torso HP becomes 0, they suffer 3 Critical Wounds and automatically fall into Critical Condition. If a character's head HP becomes 0, they die. If one of their legs or arms reaches 0 HP, they suffer 2 critical wounds and the limb is permanently destroyed. In most cases, the only way to replace a lost limb is with a prosthetic or a vat-grown replacement, although it is possible to put a limb on ice if it is dismembered cleanly with a slashing weapon and have it re-attached. Generally, weapons that are swung, pulled or thrown (barring grenades!) deal a lower amount of damage that scales with Physique, while weapons with a trigger deal a higher amount of damage that is fixed. Help! I'm dead! If you die, don't despair! There are several ways for dead characters to be revived. If used quickly, Heart Shots and Defibrillators can bring back the spark of life, and there might even be other, less mundane methods... Note that dead characters can only be revived if it is physically possible. If your head is missing or you suffered more than 20 critical wounds, you are gone for good. Armor & Penetration Armor has a fixed Armor value, and will list which body parts it covers. Likewise, weapons have fixed Penetration values. When an attack hits a body part that is covered in armor, you compare the two values. If the attack has a Penetration value that is lower than the armor's Armor value, it deals no damage. If it is equal to the armor's Armor value, it deals half damage, and if it is greater, it deals full damage. Armor and Penetration values range from 0 to 13. Here are their relative values to give a general idea of what these numbers mean: 0 - Most unarmed attacks and attacks with improvised bludgeoning weapons, such as thrown rocks or wooden planks. 1 - Sharp everyday objects, such as scissors or kitchen knives. 2 - Dangerous tools and bludgeoning weapons. 3 - Axes and any sharp weapons specifically designed for melee combat, such as fighting knives or battle ready swords. Also .22lr, .32 acp and other very small cartridges. 4 - 12ga shotshells and most handgun cartridges, including 9mm, .45 ACP, .40 S&W, .38 S&W and .380. 5 - 12ga slugs and most above-par, high-energy handgun cartridges such as 10mm Auto, .45 Grizzly, .44 Magnum, or .357 Magnum. 6 - Fragmentation grenades, 12ga flechette shells and most intermediate rifle calibers, including 5.56x45mm NATO, 7.62x39mm and 6.8x43mm SPC. Armor-piercing pistol cartridges, such as FN 5.7x28mm also fall here. 7 - High-explosive grenades, flechette bullets and full size rifle calibers, such as 7.62x51mm NATO, 7.62x54mmR, and .30-06. 8 - .50 BMG as well as high-velocity sharpshooting rounds, such as .338 Lapua magnum, .408 CheyTac, or .416 Barrett. 9 - Heat-blades, autocannons, mortars and infantry Anti-Tank guns. 10 - High-velocity grenades, infantry rocket launchers, combat lasers, tank cannons and artillery. 11 - Missiles, bombs, plasma weapons, and gauss weapons. 12 - Railguns, lightning cannons, gamma ray lasers, bunker buster bombs and non-nuclear torpedoes. 13 - Nuclear explosions, particle accelerator cannons and Vibroblades. Note that in general, +C (Charged) ammunition will have a Penetration value 1 point higher than a normal round of the same caliber. This stacks with the use of Armor-Piercing bullet cores and other effects. Attacking When attacking, you normally use Physique for melee weapons and Agility for ranged weapons, adding your skills and any relevant bonuses. The enemy then rolls their defense using Agility. If your attack roll beats the defenders defense roll, the attack hits When you hit with an attack, you then roll 2d6 to determine which body part is struck. The targets are as follows: Left Leg: 2-3 Right Leg: 4-5 Torso: 6-9 Left Arm: 10 Right Arm: 11 Head: 12 In some cases, such as when attacking certain robots, mutants, cyborgs, or aliens, the aiming targets will be different. This will be decided by the Game Master and noted on a character or NPC's character sheet. You may use a '''Called Shot''' to target a specific body part, but at a penalty to hit. When using a ranged weapon to make a called shot, you lose 1 die when aiming at the arms or torso, 2 dice when aiming at the legs, and 3 when aiming at the head. Melee weapons take a much smaller flat penalty instead: -1 for the arms, -2 for the legs, and -3 for the head Melee weapons take no penalty for called shots to the torso. Cover While engaged in a firefight, the best way to avoid getting hurt or killed is to '''Take Cover'''. While taking cover, a character is able to protect some of their body parts from damage by hiding them behind terrain, buildings, objects, and even other people. When you Take Cover, you choose which body parts to protect. Keep in mind that Cover generally does not apply to melee attacks; it is assumed that any character who gets close enough to use a melee attack could simply swing around it. There are four types of cover: Light Cover Light Cover protects three body parts at a time. Generally, it consists of makeshift cover like overturned tables, cars, trees, and small rocks. Although Light Cover is significantly less effective than other sources of protection, it is extremely common and ubiquitous. Nearly any object large enough for a human to hide their lower body behind it while standing can count as Light Cover. Medium Cover Medium Cover protects four body parts at a time. The most common types of Medium Cover are floors, walls, ceilings and terrain, meaning that any time a character is in an Enfilade position, they are in Medium Cover. Most objects taller ''or'' wider than a person also count as Medium Cover. Heavy Cover Heavy Cover protects five body parts at a time and is relatively uncommon. Heavy Cover includes objects that are bother taller ''and'' wider than a person, large enough that one can hide their entire body behind it and only peek out with their head. Many military defensive structures, such as sandbags, also count as Heavy Cover. Total Cover Total Cover protects all six body parts at a time and represents when there is a sheer barricade between the attacker and the target. Most of the time, Total Cover only comes into play when a character attacks another through Cover intentionally. Cover Penetration Depending on the attack and the type of cover, attacks may penetrate through and deal damage regardless, but they will still hurt less than they would otherwise. When a character is hit by an attack through Cover, you subtract the Cover's Armor score from the attack's Penetration score before the attack reaches the Character. For example, if a Penetration 5 attack pierces through an Armor 4 rock, then the attack hits the character with 1 Penetration. Like the armor used by characters, creatures and vehicles, all Cover objects have an Armor value which is determined by their material and thickness. Unlike other Armor values, Cover does not reduce damage if Penetration is equal to it in value. 0 - Thin cloth, such as window drapes or bedsheets. 1 - Consumer ceramics, such as vases and cups, and soft, filled objects like pillows or couches. 2 - Thick cloth or leather. 3 - Wood, plaster, padded cloth and tough boiled leather. 4 - NIJ Level II Kevlar, bricks, porous rock and most plastics 5 - NIJ Level IIIA Kevlar, thick hardened wood, and porous rock bricks. 6 - Automobile sheet metal, wire-mesh glass, and regular concrete 7 - NIJ Level III Ballistic Armor, metal plates, natural hard rock, and glazed security glass 8 - NIJ Level IV Ballistic Armor, aluminum vehicle armor, large boulders and engine blocks 9 - Rolled homogeneous armor, liquid armor and reinforced concrete 10 - Sloped armor, sheer steel and thick fortified stone 11 - Composite armor, tungsten carbide, reinforced layered metal, and earthy ground. 12 - Entire buildings, packed bedrock and depleted uranium composite armor 13 - Entire city blocks and Carbon Lattice Armor Damage and Damage Types In the vast majority of instances, characters who take damage in-game do so from sources like melee attacks and firearms. This type of damage is referred to as '''Brute Damage''', and simply subtracts from a target body part's HP, with a chance to deal Critical Attacks. Any outright physical trauma, such as bruises, lacerations, punctures and the like are considered to deal Brute damage. It bears repeating that any damage to the torso suffered past 0 HP is converted into Critical Wounds, and that any character with more than 20 Critical Wounds automatically dies and cannot be revived. However, there are also other, more dangerous '''Damage Types''' that affect more than just a character's HP. These circumstances are as follows: Fire Damage Damage from flamethrowers, napalm, white phosphorous, plasma weapons, laser weapons, many other incendiary weapons and exposure to hot hazards like chemical fires or pools of molten material. Any time a character suffers Fire Damage, they must roll VIG against the source's Attack dice. If they fail this roll, they are now '''Burning'''. Likewise, if a vehicle takes Critical Damage from a Fire source, the vehicle must succeed on a DUR roll against the source's Attack dice. If it fails, the vehicle suffers the '''Compartment Fire''' Condition. Cold Damage Damage from exposure to extreme cold, most often suffered by the unfortunate victims of spacings. When most characters suffer from Cold Damage, they must roll VIG against the source's Attack dice. If they fail, they become '''Slowed'''. Robots and vehicles take half damage, rounded down from all Cold Damage sources and are not Slowed. Electrical Damage Damage from certain weapons, such as Lightning Projectors and Shock Rifles as well as electrical traps and hazards and Hacking feedback. Electrical Damage is extremely dangerous to both organic and mechanical targets. For most characters, taking Electrical damage also drains an amount of Stamina from their Stamina pool equal to the amount of damage they take.Cyborgs must succeed on a VIG roll against the source's Attack dice or become '''Stunned'''. When Robots or Vehicles take Electrical Damage, their Energy is drained by twice the amount of damage they take and they must succeed on a DUR roll against the source's Attack dice or become Stunned'''.''' Toxin Damage Damage inflicted by venoms, poisons, many biological sources and some Hazards. This does not describe the Conditions caused by specific Toxin Damage sources, which vary tremendously. Toxin Damage reflects the overall accumulation of toxins in the body and does not target any hit zone. Instead, any time Toxin Damage is dealt to a character, they roll VIG against the source's Attack roll and instantly suffer a Critical Wound if they fail. A Note About Ambient Damage Sources In some situations a character or vehicle might suffer damage from sources that have no Attack roll. This is especially true for Hazards. For example, if a character were to stand too close to an open pit of lava, they would begin to take Fire Damage every turn. The Roll Difficulty to resist the Conditions associated with that Damage Type can be decided by the Game Master, but most Hazards will also have their Roll Difficulty described on the Hazards page.